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Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines

Author

Listed:
  • Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg

    (Harvard Medical School
    University of Vienna)

  • David Anthony

    (Hartwick College
    Harvard University)

  • Hiba Babiker

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Eszter Bánffy

    (Romano-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute)

  • Thomas Booth

    (Francis Crick Institute)

  • Patricia Capone

    (Harvard University)

  • Arati Deshpande-Mukherjee

    (Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute)

  • Stefanie Eisenmann

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Lars Fehren-Schmitz

    (University of California
    University of California)

  • Michael Frachetti

    (Washington University in St Louis)

  • Ricardo Fujita

    (Universidad de San Martín de Porres)

  • Catherine J. Frieman

    (The Australian National University)

  • Qiaomei Fu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Victoria Gibbon

    (University of Cape Town)

  • Wolfgang Haak

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Mateja Hajdinjak

    (Francis Crick Institute)

  • Kerstin P. Hofmann

    (Romano-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute)

  • Brian Holguin

    (University of California)

  • Takeshi Inomata

    (University of Arizona)

  • Hideaki Kanzawa-Kiriyama

    (National Museum of Nature and Science)

  • William Keegan

    (Florida Museum of Natural History)

  • Janet Kelso

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Johannes Krause

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Ganesan Kumaresan

    (Madurai Kamaraj University)

  • Chapurukha Kusimba

    (University of South Florida)

  • Sibel Kusimba

    (University of South Florida)

  • Carles Lalueza-Fox

    (Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF))

  • Bastien Llamas

    (University of Adelaide
    University of Adelaide)

  • Scott MacEachern

    (Duke Kunshan University)

  • Swapan Mallick

    (Harvard Medical School
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Hirofumi Matsumura

    (Sapporo Medical University)

  • Ana Y. Morales-Arce

    (University of Bern)

  • Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute

    (Vilnius University)

  • Veena Mushrif-Tripathy

    (Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute)

  • Nathan Nakatsuka

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Rodrigo Nores

    (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR), CONICET)

  • Christine Ogola

    (National Museums of Kenya)

  • Mercedes Okumura

    (University of São Paulo)

  • Nick Patterson

    (Harvard University
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Ron Pinhasi

    (University of Vienna
    University of Vienna)

  • Samayamantri P. R. Prasad

    (DBT-Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics)

  • Mary E. Prendergast

    (Rice University)

  • Jose Luis Punzo

    (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia)

  • David Reich

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard University
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Rikai Sawafuji

    (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI))

  • Elizabeth Sawchuk

    (University of Alberta
    Stony Brook University)

  • Stephan Schiffels

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Jakob Sedig

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard University)

  • Svetlana Shnaider

    (ArchaeoZOOlogy in Siberia and Central Asia–ZooSCAn, CNRS–IAET SB RAS International Research Laboratory)

  • Kendra Sirak

    (Harvard Medical School
    Harvard University)

  • Pontus Skoglund

    (Francis Crick Institute)

  • Viviane Slon

    (Tel Aviv University
    Tel Aviv University)

  • Meradeth Snow

    (University of Montana)

  • Marie Soressi

    (Leiden University)

  • Matthew Spriggs

    (The Australian National University
    Vanuatu Cultural Centre)

  • Philipp W. Stockhammer

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    Ludwig Maximilian University)

  • Anna Szécsényi-Nagy

    (Eötvös Loránd Research Network)

  • Kumarasamy Thangaraj

    (DBT-Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
    CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology)

  • Vera Tiesler

    (Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán)

  • Ray Tobler

    (University of South Florida
    University of Adelaide)

  • Chuan-Chao Wang

    (Xiamen University
    Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and Institute of Asian Civilizations, Zhejiang University)

  • Christina Warinner

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    Harvard University)

  • Surangi Yasawardene

    (University of Sri Jayewardenepura)

  • Muhammad Zahir

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Hazara University)

Abstract

We are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse global communities and 31 countries. All of us met in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research held in November 2020. There was widespread agreement that globally applicable ethical guidelines are needed, but that recent recommendations grounded in discussion about research on human remains from North America are not always generalizable worldwide. Here we propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts. These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and (5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. We commit to adhering to these guidelines and expect they will promote a high ethical standard in DNA research on human remains going forward.

Suggested Citation

  • Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg & David Anthony & Hiba Babiker & Eszter Bánffy & Thomas Booth & Patricia Capone & Arati Deshpande-Mukherjee & Stefanie Eisenmann & Lars Fehren-Schmitz & Michael Frachetti & , 2021. "Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines," Nature, Nature, vol. 599(7883), pages 41-46, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:599:y:2021:i:7883:d:10.1038_s41586-021-04008-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04008-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Javier G. Serrano & Alejandra C. Ordóñez & Jonathan Santana & Elías Sánchez-Cañadillas & Matilde Arnay & Amelia Rodríguez-Rodríguez & Jacob Morales & Javier Velasco-Vázquez & Verónica Alberto-Barroso , 2023. "The genomic history of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

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